Tech Cuts Slow in April

According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray &
Christmas, Inc., tech firms said they were shedding 158,749
jobs between January and April of this year. During the
same period in 2001, tech companies announced 231,470 job
reductions.

Challenger attributes the drop to a major slowdown in
job cutting among computer, electronic, and Internet
firms. Announced job cuts by companies in these
industries have fallen by an average of 75%.

Telecom Picture Still Bleak

The most ominous portion of the report came from
telecommunications firms, which announced 31% more job cuts
through April 2002 or 120, 698 positions. That compares to
91,799 telecommunications position cuts in the same period
in 2001.

Challenger researchers said telecom job cuts account for
76% of the high-tech job reductions announced this year and
29% of the 555,783 job cuts in all industries.

The recovery in technology spending is expected to be
slow. Some experts do not see technology investments
returning to year 2000 levels until the third quarter of
2003 or mid-2004.

Those who are able to find jobs in the coming months are
likely to discover that things are not what they used to
be, Challenger cautioned.

For example, information technology managers and IT
staff saw their total compensation decline in 2002 by 8%
and 11%, respectively, according to an annual survey by
trade publication InformationWeek.

The survey also showed that bonuses have shrunk
dramatically. This year, the median bonus for IT
staffers was $2,000, down dramatically from last year’s
$11,000.